Grand jury finds Alexander City officer not at fault in fatal March shooting, according to report

ALEXANDER CITY, Alabama -- An Alexander City police officer found will not be prosecuted after a Tallapoosa County grand jury found him not at fault for the March shooting death of a man at a Huddle House, according to The Alex City Outlook.

District Attorney E. Paul Jones told the Outlook Wednesday that a grand jury found Officer Tommy Maness not at fault for the shooting death of Emerson Crayton Jr. at a Huddle House early in the morning of March 8.

Authorities told the Associated Press in March that an officer was sent to a fight outside the restaurant and one man got in his vehicle and tried to flee the scene, driving toward the officer, who fired.

At a news conference, Jones presented video -- which had been presented to the grand jury -- showing the officer approaching the Huddle House to respond to the disturbance and knocking on the outside of a vehicle that a restaurant employee pointed out, according to the Outlook. The officer also yelled for the driver to stop. The vehicle then accelerated toward the officer, and the officer fired.

Jones said he wanted to release the evidence to combat allegations of racism on the officer's part. He said the officer followed policy and chose to take action to protect his own life.